Tag Archives: new york tattoo convention

Interview By Jason Schroder and Shawn Barber Henry Lewis: I did the shop-guy thing for about four or five months, and then you asked me to be your apprentice. And you gave me the whole low-down on what it would be, and at that point, you know, I was a cocky little graffiti-asshole who thought the world revolved around me, and uh, you know… Shawn Barber: And did you stop painting at that point? HL: I didn’t stop painting, I just put that on hiatus for a little bit, because the apprenticeship was a little more important. And I didn’t have a lot of free time. SB: So you were tattooing, and just focusing all your energy on that. HL: I was focusing my energy on the apprenticeship. And when I got a little free time I’d draw. Like, I kept illustrating and drawing images that I thought would work as tattoos. I would try to make graffiti-type characters into traditional tattoos, but make them have like a graffiti edge. It was sooo bad. [Laughs]Read More »

Interview By CIV Mike Rubendall: You have one shot to make it right. For me the permanence of a tattoo was a heavy thing and I wanted to make a smart decision. I remember as a kid looking through magazines I’d always admired Filip’s work, it always had a tremendous impact on me. I saw what could be done with tattooing and, first and foremost, I wanted to go out there and see what he did different from what everyone else was doing to get the results he was getting, you know? That was a big part of the reason why I had him do my arms, because I wanted to watch him; I wanted to see it done right. However, at the time I think it was too early in my career to pick up what he was throwing down. I could have soaked up more knowledge if I had waited to make that trip later in my career. Well, who really knows how things would have turned out? I do know it still gave me a whole different mentality and perspective on tattooing…Read More »